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The Texas senator was introduced at times as “the next president of the United States.” His speeches were punctuated by chants of “Run, Ted, run!” and supporters mobbed him at his huge exhibition booth. Cruz easily overshadowed fellow potential 2016ers at the event, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and he dominated them in a presidential straw poll held there.

Many establishment Republicans disdain Cruz’s stick-it-to-Washington attitude, stoking doubts about whether his appeal is broad enough to win a national election. And the convention unfolded here as establishment Republicans have notched wins this year over grassroots insurgents in key races in states such as North Carolina, Kentucky, and, on Saturday, Virginia.

But the dynamics here show the strength, energy and numbers that still make the GOP grassroots powerful. And Cruz’s reception — home-field advantage notwithstanding — offers a preview of the enthusiasm he could generate in other places where grassroots conservatives are active if he runs in 2016.

“What I am trying to do, more than anything else, is motivate and energize millions of grassroots activists in Texas and all around the country to stand up and demand we change course,” Cruz told POLITICO.

The one big demand he faced in Fort Worth was to run for president.

On Thursday night, he addressed two events — a banquet sponsored by the Texas Eagle Forum, and a Defense of Texas Marriage Amendment rally — and both ended with standing ovations and chants of “Run, Ted, run!”

“Well, he’s just the most popular politician in Texas,” said state Sen. Dan Patrick, who recently won the Republican nomination for Texas lieutenant governor. “They see a guy who’s willing to take an arrow and stand up for the people. That fires people up.”

It’s another story in Washington, where Cruz is dismissed by many in his own party for his hard-line approach, most memorably his encouragement of the government shutdown last fall. In the past, Cruz also has taken heat for not endorsing colleagues — including John Cornyn, the senior senator from Texas — in primary contests (though at least publicly, they seem to be on fine terms now).

Cruz’s soaring rhetoric and near-apocalyptic talk about saving the nation, which engenders eye rolls in Washington, brought crowds here to their feet. People responded to the freshman senator’s speeches with “amens;” a “you da man” or two. But the most fervid responses often came when he hinted about his future plans.

“I tell you this: as good as 2014 is gonna be, 2016 is gonna be even better,” Cruz said at the Defense of Texas Marriage event.

Cruz reveled in dinging D.C. The hash tag #makedclisten, popularized by the Cruz team during the shutdown, was plastered on the senator’s posters, and Cruz remarked in his keynote speech on Friday that Ronald Reagan was “despised” by Washington in 1980.

“I hope we see leaders who are willing to suffer the scorn of Washington,” he told reporters later when asked about 2016. “I will say this: Any candidate who is embraced by Washington, D.C., my advice to the people is, run and hide, ‘cause that ain’t how we’re turning this country around.”

In sheer size and noise, the Texas GOP convention made the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington look like a staid gathering of moderate Republicans. The head count as of Friday night was about 7,000 and rising.

There was a “pin the tail on the Democratic donkey” booth hosted by a candidate for state comptroller; the “tails” featured toxic terms in conservative circles, such as “gun control,” “Obamacare” and “higher taxes.” Or, for $600, you could buy a pair of boots dotted with crosses.

Cruz’s massive booth in the exhibition hall appeared to be nearly twice the size of Paul’s, situated right across the aisle.

The Cruz booth, designed to look like a rustic living room, featured plush chairs, a saddle, enormous letters spelling out the word “Texas” next to an even bigger Lone Star State flag and giveaways including T-shirts, cups and stickers. It was packed throughout the convention, and when Cruz appeared for a photo opportunity, the line snaked around two corners of the structure.